nichols



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

H. C.- NICHOLS.

STEAM ENGINE GOVERNOR. 'No. 527,503. Patented Oct. 16, 1894.

{No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. HO. NICHOLS.

STEAM ENGINE GOVERNOR. No. 527,503. Patented Oct. 16, 1894.

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HENRY C. NICHOLS, OF HOIQ KINTON, RHODE ISLAND.

STEAM-ENGINE. GOVERNOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 527,503, dated October16, 1894.

Application filed February 9, 1894. Serial No. 499,628- (No model.)

To all whom it mag concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY O. NICHOLS, a

citizen of the United States, and a resident Y of I-lopkinton, county ofWashington, and

State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Steam-Engine Governors, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has reference more particularly to that class of steamengine governors which involve in their construction a radially movableeccentric, and effect the equalization of the speed of the engine bychanging the amount of throw of such eccentric and thereby the point inthe stroke of the piston at which the how of steam to the cylinder shallbe out OK; its object being to provide agovernor of this class which,while simplein construction and efficient in operation, shall, at thesame time, be extremely sensitive to variations in the speed of theengine. r

To the ends thus specified, "the invention consists, first, in the meansmade use of for mounting the movable eccentric whereby, in its movementsto vary the throw of the cut off valve, such eccentric is guided in adirect line across the shaft carrying the governor,

while yet left free to move around the same as the requirements of thegovernor mechanism may demand; second, inthe means whereby the movableeccentric is guided in its movements across the shaft carrying thegovernor, while yet left free to move around the same asthe exigenciesof the governor mechanism may require, and is rotated, and third, invarious other constructions and combinations of parts, all as willhereinafter more fully appear.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of thisspecification, Figure 1, is a side elevation and transverse sectionrespectively of a pulley and shaft, with i a governor constructed inaccordance with my invention applied in connection therewith; Fig. 2, ahorizontal section of such parts, taken in the plane as a: in Fig. 1 andlookingdownward; Fig. .3, a side elevation of a slightly modifiedconstruction of movable eccentric and carrier, showing also in dottedlines the guide block upon which the eccentric and carrier are guidedand the end of the shaft upon which they are mounted; Fig. 4.,

an edge view of the parts shown in Fig. 3, looking from the left in thatfigure; Figs. 5 and 6, a side and edge elevation, respectively, of theguide block upon which the movable eccentric is guided, detached, andFig. 7, a side elevation of the end of, the shaft upon in Figs. 4 and 5are mounted. i In the several figures of the drawings, likecorresponding parts.

Aindicates a shaft which is or maybe the main crank shaft of a steamengine, and B a pulley secured thereon. shaft A, in close relationshipto the pulley B, is the radially movable eccentric O, which ispreferablythough not necessarily formed upon the side of a plate like carrier,D,near the lower end thereof, and is provided with an elongatedaperture, a, where it encircles the shaft, the dimensions of whichaperture are such as to prevent the walls thereof from they are movedback and forth over the same in the adjustment of the eccentric to therequirements of the engine. .In the construction of this eccentric,Isometimes find it convenient to provide it with a circumferential formedin the interior of the eccentric strap,

tric when the engine is. in operation,but this is not essential, andsuch flange and groove may be reversed and the flange appear upon theperiphery of the pulley, or both may be omitted and other arrangementsadopted for accomplishing that result without in any way adecting thescope of my invention.

bell crank lever E E through which the radially shifting movement of theeccentric is oted to the pulley B on opposite sides of the eccentriccarrier D, by pivots b, and carry on their longer arms weights F F,which are or may be held in adjusted position thereonby screws b orother equivalent means, the object and purpose of such weights being tomove the eccentric in one direction as they letters of reference areemployed to designate Mounted on the coming into contact with the saidshaft as whereby to hold such strap upon the eccenthe interior of thestrap and the groove in effected. These bell crank levers are piv--which the form of plate and eccentric shown flange, at, around itsperiphery for engage ment with a correspondingly shaped groove Jointeddirectly to the outer end of the ec: centric carrier D are the shorterarms of the are thrown outward under -'the influences of and weights,they are preferably though not necessarily so proportioned as to makethem approximately balance the eccentric G and carrier D, when suchlevers and weights are thrown outward into the positions shown in Fig.1; and as theyare arranged on opposite sides of the carrier, it isobvious that this balancing of the parts is maintained in all. thepositions to which theymay be carried by the rotation of the pulley B.

To overcome the centrifugal force engendered in the bell crank leversand weights by the rotation of such parts with the pulley B, when theirspeed of rotation is reduced below a certain limit,'and thereby move theeccentric and its carrier ina direction opposite to that imparted tothem by that force, the spring H is employed, which extends across fromone bell crank lever to the other and has its ends connected thereto bysuitable clips. These clips may be constructed in various forms. In thepreferred form of construction however, they are made with a sleeve-likemember, 0, which is adapted to be adjusted along the lever and securedthereto at the desired point by a binding screw, 0', and also with asecond member, 0 which, pivoted to the outer edge of the first, is pro-'vided with a suitable opening through it for the passage and movementof the lever,

and receives in a suitable threaded orifice.

formed in its inner face, a'screw rod (1, t0

,whichis fixedly secured one end of said spring. By these meansprovision is made for adjusting not only the points where the springconnects with the levers, but the tension of the spring as well. As theparts are thus constructed and arranged, the move-.

force to near their outermost limit and the eccentric with its carrier,moved into substantially the positions illustrated in Fig. 1. In thesepositions, such parts will remain so long as the engine is operating atthe required speed, but the moment that the speed increases ordiminishes the bell crank levers with their weights will be eitherthrown outward under the influences of the increased centrifugal force,or drawn inward under the stress of the spring H, moving the. eccentricand its carrier in one or the other direction across the shaft A, andthereby hastening or deferring the cut off of the steam to the cylinderto an earlier or later period in the stroke of the piston, as therequirements of the engine demand a diminution or increase in the otherof such parts.

speed thereof. When the engine is at rest the bell crank levers, withthe weights F F carried thereon, will be drawn inward until they are incontact with, or nearly in contact with, the hub of the pulley B, butwhen it is operating at its full speed they will be carried outwarduntil the levers nearly contactwith the stops 6 secured to the arms ofthe pulley B, in which position they will remain so long as the engineis operated at that speed.

The inner ends of the short arms of the bell crank levers being bothjointed to the outer end of the eccentric carrier D, it is obvious that,as those ends describe arcs of circles in their movements that curveoutwardly from each other, they could not co-operate with such carrierto move it back and forth over the shaft, if provisions were not madefor allowing of a slight lateral translation of one of these arms withrespect to the carrier as the former moves around the axis of pivot b.In order therefore to allow of this movement, the bell crank lever E,while jointed to the eccentric carrier bya pivot f that is fitted towork closely in a hole formedin such carrier, the pivot f of the bellcrank lever E works in an elongated orifice formed therein. As a resultof this construction and arrangement of parts, the-eccentric carrier D,and with it the eccentric G, are not only moved laterally of the'shaftA, by the lovers E E, but they also partake of the curvilinear movementof the inner end ofthe lever E, and thereby re ceive a slightoscillatory movement around said shaft, the pivot f in the joint of thelever E sliding in the elongated orifice formed in the carrier Dpermitting of this movement taking place.

To properly hold and guide the eccentric with respect to the shaft Awhen the movements above explained take place, I provide the eccentriccarrier D with a guide way, h,

on its back, which receives and slides upon a guide block, I, (see Figs.5 and 6) that is loosely mounted upon the said shaft, in such a manneras to permit of its easy oscillation thereon, and the rotation of thelatter therein.

In the construction of this guide block it may, in some cases, be madein one piece, as shown in said figures, in which case its dimensionswill be such that the sides thereof will accurately fit within the guideway h. In other cases it may be made in a plurality of parts, and theguide way in which it slides provided with a gib, the adjustment ofwhich in the guide way to take up any wear that may have been occasionedbetween those. parts being eifected by setting out one or the Either ofthese constructions of block may be adopted as may be desired or as theexigencies of the particular service of the engine may demand. I preferhowever to make it of a single piece as greater simplicity of parts areattained and the lia- I bility of derangement thereby obviated. By thisarrangement of parts, as will be seen, not only are the eccentric andits carrier are required, but, in consequence of the ca-.

pability of the block I to oscillate upon such shaft, the oscillatorymovements of the cocentric and its carrier occasioned by the movementsof the short arm of the bell crank lever E, permitted "as well, and thistoo around Q the axis of the shaft A, which remains a permanent centerof oscillation no matter in what positions the eccentric and its carrieraremoved by the bell crank levers E E.

The eccentric with its carrier and the guide block I, being looselymounted on the shaft A, might in some cases move along such shaft if noprovisions were made for preventing it and the parts thus mentioned,with the valve 1 rod and connection, thrown out of alignment.

To obviate this, I make use of astud, 'i, which, secured in the hub ofthe pulley B, extends through a slot, 2', formed through the eccentriccarrier D, and receives on its outer end a nut, t length and breadththereof are made sufficiently great as to permit of it moving radiallyover the stud 'i asthe eccentric and carrier are moved by the bellcrankleversEfE'; and the nut i instead of binding the eccentric carriertightly against the hub of the pulley B,will be screwed firmly upagainst ashoulder formed on thestud, without exerting any pressure onthe carrier which will be free to move thereunder.

y ferent mounting ofthe eccentric with its carrier and the guide blockupon the shaft.

In Figs. 3 and 4, there is shown a slightly modified form of eccentricand a-slightly dif this construction, the eccentric carrier Dprovidedwith the guide way h, and the guide block I, are or may be thesame as those illustrated in the preceding figures, but instead of theeccentric being made of a diameter suf ficiently great to embrace theshaft A,it is constructed in the form of a wrist-pin, O, of

smaller diameter, and, with its carrier and the guide block 1, ismounted upon the end of said shaft which is preferably reduced indiameter for that purpose, as illustrated at Z in Fig. 7. Although madeof smaller diamethe wrist-pin with its carrier and the guide block, backon the reduced portion of the shaft A, may be made through the carrierDas in the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Itis preferred howeverwith this construction to form it through an ear 2, secured to the sideof one of the walls of the guide way h,

as clearly illustrated in dotted lines in Figs. 3 and 4.

With the constructions above set forth, a

In the formation of thisslot, the

governor forhigh speed and other engines is producedin whichthe movableeccentric is not only guided in its movements in a direct line acrossits supporting shaft, while yet left free to oscillate with its guideblock upon said shaft as a permanent center of oscillation, but is alsorotated from the pulley B, through the bell crank lever E E, without anystrain or binding action upon the guide Way and guiding block, and theuse of connecting rods between the bell crank levers andthe eccentriccarrier thereby obviated. As a result of this, greater sensitiveness inthe operation of the governor is attained, while, in dispensing with theconnections between the bell cranklevers and the eccentric carrier, thepoints of wear are reduced to the minimum. Although in the foregoingthebest means contemplated for carrying theinvention into practice hasbeen described, it is to be understood that the same may bemodified invarious ways and still be within the scope of the invention.

Having nowdescribed the invention and specified certain of the ways inwhich it is or may be carried into effect, whatis claimed as new, andfor which Letters Patent of the United States is desired, is-

1. The, combination, with an eccentric adapted to receive an eccentriiistrap and provided with guides, a shaft, and devices for moving theeccentric laterally of such shaft, of devices for engaging with saidguides whereby to guide said eccentric in a direct line across the shaftwhile permitting of an oscillatory movement on such shaft, substantiallyas described.

2. The combination, with an eccentric adapted to receive an eccentricstrap and provided with guides, a shaft, and devices for moving the,eccentric laterally of such shaft, of a guide block loosely mounted onsaid shaft for co-operation with the guide whereby to guide theeccentric in a direct line across the shaft while permitting of anoscillatory movement on such shaft, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with an eccentric provided with guides, a shaft, andlevers for moving the eccentric radially of such shaft, of a guide blockloosely mounted on the shaft and cooperating with the guides on thecocentric, for guiding such eccentric in a direct IIO oscillate aboutthe same as the exigencies of the levers may require, and weights and aspring for co-operation with the levers, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with an eccentric provided with guides on its back,a shaft upon which it is mounted, bell crank levers provided withweights, and a spring, of a guide block loosely mounted on said shaftand cooperating with the guides on the eccentric whereby toguidesucheccentric in a direct line across the shaft while permitting ofits oscillation thereon, as the requirements of one of the bell cranklevers in its movements may demand, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with an eccentric, a carrier therefor provided with.guides upon its back, a shaft upon which such eccentric and carrier aremounted, bell crank levers jointed at one of their ends directly to theouter end of said carrier and provided on their other ends with weights,and a spring for co-operating with the bell crank levers, of a guideblock loosely mounted on the shaft and engaging with the guides on thecarrier whereby the rotation of the eccentric is effected from the bellcrank levers, and its lateral movement guided in a direct line acrossthem, of the clips composed of members 'c'c 7. A clip composed of twomembers 0 0 pivoted together, a binding screw, 0, and means in the innerface of the member 0 whereby to connect it with a rod or bar,substantially as described.

8-. The combination, with an eccentric 0,

land its carrier provided with the guide way it and with the slot 1', ofthe pulley B, and stud i provided with a nut on its outer end,

(substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 1st day ofFebruary, 1894:. l HENRY o. NICHOLS.

Witnesses:

S. L. TRIPPE, WM. E. TREFO'ER.

